UP government shifts convicted leaders to far-flung jails

Lucknow: Fifteen politicians who had a criminal past, and criminals having political links in Uttar Pradesh, are being shifted to far-flung jails in the state.

According to ADG prison G.L. Meena, the first in the list is Mukhtar Ansari, who was recently elected for the fifth time on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket.

Ansari, who is lodged in Lucknow jail, is being shifted to Banda jail in Bundelkhand region.

However, Banda district officials expressed their inability to ensure the security of Ansari, who is now expected to be shifted to another jail.

Ansari was earlier lodged in Agra jail, and was shifted to Lucknow as soon as the merger of his Qaumi Ekta Dal was announced in June last year.

Ansari, who was in the Vidhan Sabha for the oath-taking ceremony of MLAs, told reporters that he faced a threat to his life and had appealed to chief minister Yogi Adityanath to ensure his safety.

Another criminal to be shifted is former BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari, who was convicted for lynching engineer Manoj Gupta in 2008 when the latter refused to pay for Mayawati’s birthday funds.

Tiwari, who is serving a life sentence, is lodged in Barabanki jail and will be shifted to Maharajganj jail.

Other criminals to be shifted are Maulana Anwarul Haq, charged with rape, who is being shifted from Bijnore jail to Fatehgarh jail, and Jeetu, who is being shifted to Lakhimpur jail from Mainpuri.